The two-man team, called in Wednesday morning, began a preliminary check of homes in Mount Airy that reported getting water indoors.

Rusty Costanza/The Times-PicayuneBilly Posey and Paul Oncale inspect water damage to homes in St. John the Baptist Parish on Wednesday.

They look for water marks on the homes, said team member Wendell Piper, a disaster recovery specialist.

"We come and look to see if it can be federally funded," said Billy Posey, a disaster recovery specialist, as he looked at homes from inside the car of St. John's public safety director Paul Oncale.

Oncale had requested that the team to come to St. John, said Veronica Mosgrove, a homeland security office spokeswoman. According to a release from Mosgrove's office, the team will determine whether to recommend that Gov. Bobby Jindal issue an emergency declaration.

Buddy Boe, St. John acting chief administrative officer, said no public buildings were damaged as a result of the storm, in which more than 7 inches of rain flooded parish streets and homes. Officials estimated that about 20 homes in Mount Airy. Reserve, Garyville, Edgard and LaPlace took on water Tuesday. The parish blocked off several flooded streets Tuesday morning to stop traffic from sloshing water into other homes.

Oncale said that some homes took in 1 to 4 inches of water after the rain.

As Oncale drove along Chestnut Street in Mount Airy, he stopped to talk to a work crew digging and cleaning out canals in the area. He said crews have been removing blockages to improve drainage flow.

Some residents blamed parish officials on Tuesday for the flooding, saying the water was not moving out because drainage ditches had not be cleaned.

Just as large crane dipped into a canal like an arcade claw machine on Wednesday, Loretta Tassin shook her head.

"They're here after the fact," said Tassin, who said she had water up to her front door. "That ditch should have been cleaned before the rain."

"This is something that could have been avoided," she added. "It just takes a little common sense to correct it."